I thought I had heard a Cuckoo calling as darkness fell last night, so I decided to have a little wander up the hedgerow this evening.
As I got to the end of the row I heard the unmistakeable churring of a
Turtle Dove. I wandered around to the reservoir and trained my scope back towards the hedgerow and, sure enough, there it was perched atop of the tree right in the corner. Had really good views for five minutes before it shot up and flew south off the reserve.
Wondering what had set it up in such fashion, I looked backed towards the tree and was overjoyed to see the
Cuckoo perched on a lower branch! Watched it for nearly an hour (long enough for Les Ditchburn to dash from work and come and join us
) before it finally dropped into some deeper cover. However, it could be heard calling again from the car park just as I left at 8pm.
All in all, a great evening. Other highlights were:-
Greenshank x 1 (Reedbed)
Ruddy Duck x 1 (Reedbed)
Willow Warbler x 1 (Hedgerow)
Chiffchaff x 2 (Hedgerow)
Whooper Swan x 1 (Reservoir)
Also, swarms of hirundines over the reservoir and surrounding grassland tonight. Mostly Swallows with a handful of Sand Martins and a single House Martin mixed in for good measure.